Anthony's Restaurant

As promised a second review of this place. And on reflection its definitely a 5 star and now a favourite place of mine - I only wish it was closer to home.

The generosity of our hosts meant that on this trip (for someone's special birthday) we got to see no menu and no prices and no bill either. We had taken over the whole place on Saturday lunch and when we eventually sat down, after much champagne and chat, we were greeted with a lovely little starter of cold squid done very simply but unusually in a light dressing. Next came sea trout with mango and feta which was delicious and then a main course of duck, served pink and with cubes of raw apple, some hot foie gras and something that looked like sawdust but which tasted a whole lot nicer. We then had a desert of milk done five different ways and this time I thought it a wonderful dish, much better than when I'd had it last time. I'm not sure if it had been pared down a little but whatever accounts for the difference this time is was a star and 10 out of 10. There was also a cheese plate of eleven different cheeses that come with descriptions and an order in which you should eat them. This is an excellent idea and I'd forgotten that we had the same last time. It's an excellent idea to give a logical order in which the cheeses should be eaten - they did it at the most enjoyable meal I've ever had and good places should do it more. Of course on a table of six after much champagne and wine and with so much chatter going on we didn't really observe any order at all this time. I'd also forgotten that the bread and three different flavoured butters plus an olive oil that they serve with it is excellent too.

Service was much friendlier this time and I recognised faces from our last visit and discovered that they had worked at El Bulli too.

I'd add that the restaurant is perfectly located in the heart of town close to the train station. Trains between Leeds and Manchester run all through the night I think and are definitely easy enough to use if everyone wants to drink also the atmosphere on the night train last whenever we've used it was fun and not at all intimidating.

So to sum up I think the place is brilliant and deserves the recognition it seems to have had from some. It's definitely a favourite and we'll certainly be going back. I'd urge anyone to go and enjoy it.